As with many other places in the US it's been snowing here these past few days. I really want to get out to the mountains for some video but a few flakes falling from the sky have kept me from flying. Snow is water and water and electronics don't mix. I don't condone flying with any snow in the air it's possible that a few flakes might be around or while flying that the Phantom might run across a few. Here is a thought I'd like to put out for discussion... placing tape over the vents on the side of the Phantom. Cover up all but a small area. Keep in mind that it's going to be freezing or close to freezing temps anyway so I don't think heat is an issue in the winter time. The base of the motors are still exposed though but the propellers might "help" protect that area a little. What I'm looking for is any edge I can get to protect the Phantom and if there are no draw backs... why not.
Flying in cold weather
- Thread starter tcope
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just make sure you electronics are warm-ish. the other day I went out and it was about 35°. I had my iPad mini retina out and it was at 50%, I took off and within 2 minutes it gave me a low battery warning and died directly after that then I took out my iPhone 6+ and it was at 80%, then it died within 5 mins.
The cold kills battery! make sure you keep your p's battery warm (which you probably already know) but also keep your devices warm!
The cold kills battery! make sure you keep your p's battery warm (which you probably already know) but also keep your devices warm!
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You can cover the slots but you can not easily cover the vents in the motor. I have not tried running the Phantom in rain but I have run one of my Hubsan X-4s in the mist for about a month (it rains a lot here). Did fine until about four weeks when one of the motors failed. So, I presume that one can get buy with some moisture in a brushless DC motor, but there are likely limits. And the X-4 motor failure happened at startup, so I was easy to recover from.
I'm quite tempted to take it out in mild precipitation, but for now, I'll let somebody else do it.
The other thing to consider in freezing or near freezing temps is rotor icing. Happens on the big birds, can happen on the little ones. Ice covered rotors don't fly well.
I'm quite tempted to take it out in mild precipitation, but for now, I'll let somebody else do it.
The other thing to consider in freezing or near freezing temps is rotor icing. Happens on the big birds, can happen on the little ones. Ice covered rotors don't fly well.
I doubt a random snowflake will have an effect on your drone or motors. I've flow some of mine in mist and light rain in Seattle with no problems. That was months ago and they are still fine.
They DO get mighty cold up there though. Today all the batteries went into yellow and red warnings, so we throttled down quite a bit.
They DO get mighty cold up there though. Today all the batteries went into yellow and red warnings, so we throttled down quite a bit.
